Martine's discoveries in the world of yoga

New Approach, New Insights

The past few weeks I have been immersed in BoxingYoga™. It is a form of yoga that started in a Boxing Club in London with the primary idea to help boxers perform better in the ring. However, during the development of this yoga approach, it turned out to support way more people than just boxers. The great thing about it is that is supports fighters, athletes, yogis and any enthusiast that loves a strong work-out, that likes to be challenged and still wants to feel amazing and calm at the end. And therefore, perfect for me!

The training system consists of 12 rounds that will help you warm-up, build strength, improve endurance and get you flexible. The different stages are designed to improve mental and physical strength and flexibility, help maintain optimal health, prevent injuries and it maximizes performance.

So why did I just spend two paragraphs on explaining BoxingYoga? One reason is most definitely that I like to share my journey and tell you all what I am working on. But this is not my main reason; I got curious about this form of yoga, because I always like to see how I am able to bring the benefits of yoga to people who would normally not be interested in it at all.

I noticed that when I told people about it, and even when I heard about it for the first time, they are immediately interested. The contrast between boxing and yoga seems so big for so many people that they can’t seem to bring them together. How does it work? Do you fight during class? Do you use punching bags and gloves? And what about violence and yoga? All very valid questions and all questions I seem to get a lot. It is great to notice it triggers something in everyone.

The biggest thing I take away from it all is that by combining these two seemingly incompatible sports together we create curiosity, an eagerness to try it out, a hunger to know what it is. And not just yogi’s or fighters, literally everyone!

Teaching BoxingYoga puts me back into a position where I have to rephrase my yoga language into something understandable, for everyone. I need to understand all different options of the poses, so I can make them do-able, for everyone. I am re-discovering a wider range of body types and minds, so I renew my personal studies on how to give cues for the wide variety of bodies and minds, cues accessible for everyone.

It made me realize again how quick you can be stuck in your ways, how you often believe you are open and flexible, but way to often you fall back to what you think you know, what you believe is true. A new approach to yoga broke open my quickly built up yoga self-esteem and brought me a fuller experience of what yoga can be about. New approach equals new insights!